What happened to his neck feathers?

[Serenity06]

Alright, good luck!
Let us know if you find anything.

Sorry for the late response I didn't have any sign of what was going on until today when I saw it. While they were free ranging I saw a hen pull out two of his feathers and eat them. Is that normal for feather picking?? I always assumed feather picking meant they just pull them out because of boredom, curiosity, or bullying. I didn't know they would literally EAT them?? Also he still looks the same, he's definitely not growing them back but he doesn't look worse. There's no skin showing or anything. What can be done about it? I only saw with my own eyes one hen doing it but I'm not there frequently enough to watch them and see if it's multiple or even all of them.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Sorry for the late response I didn't have any sign of what was going on until today when I saw it. While they were free ranging I saw a hen pull out two of his feathers and eat them. Is that normal for feather picking?? I always assumed feather picking meant they just pull them out because of boredom, curiosity, or bullying. I didn't know they would literally EAT them?? Also he still looks the same, he's definitely not growing them back but he doesn't look worse. There's no skin showing or anything. What can be done about it? I only saw with my own eyes one hen doing it but I'm not there frequently enough to watch them and see if it's multiple or even all of them.

This is what they like to do. How much protein are they getting? Sometimes feather plucking is due to not enough protein. Usually, we you see one plucking, they're typically all plucking. Some are just more obvious than others.

For my flock to stop the habit, I did Pinless Peepers. If you don’t know how to put them on, here's an article: How To Apply Pinless Peepers

 

[Serenity06]

This is what they like to do. How much protein are they getting? Sometimes feather plucking is due to not enough protein. Usually, we you see one plucking, they're typically all plucking. Some are just more obvious than others.

For my flock to stop the habit, I did Pinless Peepers. If you don’t know how to put them on, here's an article: How To Apply Pinless Peepers

I'm not sure exactly how much protein they're getting. I know they are fed 16% layer pellets but they also get scratch, mealworms, and scraps of veggies and such on occasion. I know they have plenty of room for the amount of chickens their are and they are also out to free range for a few hours most days. I'll see how much scratch they're being fed and make sure that isn't the issue. Just curious how do the pinless peepers work? I've seen them before but never understood how they keep the chickens from doing the behaviors they're wearing them to prevent.